Why don't I get cable TV at parks?

[Manitou]

I hook up the outside cable to the campground cable plug. I switch the push button thing so that "cable" is depressed (not antennae). Do a channel search on the tv.. Nada. ??

[Concourse]

Do a continuity test on the coax run. take the cable off the TV then use an ohmmeter or tester to check for TV end of the cable all the way back to the service center connector (outside). Of rig up a battery at one end and test for voltage at the other end.


also, make sure to switch the TV from "air" to "cable" when programming it

[Manitou]

I have a bolt meter, but don't really understand ohm testing. When I turn on the antennae and change the tv to antenna, I get a few stations.

[Blue~Go]

I'm so far from a volt/ohm meter expert it's laughable (but maybe that means I'll explain it in a basic way).

At any rate, what an ohm meter does is check for resistance or continuity in a circuit. Sometimes you want to see one or sometimes the other, depending.

For example, if I want to see if I have a switch wired correctly (granted, I could just flip it on and see, but say I wanted to test).

1) I put the meter in Ohms setting.

2) I put one lead (pointy tip, red and black leads don't matter on ohms setting, they are both the same) on one side of the switch, and one on the other.

3) If the switch is off, I should see major resistance (no continuity).

4) If the switch is on, I should see little to no resistance (there IS continuity.


If I want to check resistance (for example, yesterday I put on a new chassis ground lead, and I wanted to see if I had a good connection).

1) I put the meter in ohms setting

2) I put one lead on the cable of the chassis ground (actually on top of the lug).

3) I put the other lead on a bare spot of the frame.

4) I should see little to no resistance (want perfect continuity if possible). I did get Zero, yay! Then to test, I put the "frame lead" on a little weld on a gusset instead of the actual frame. Then I did get a resistance reading (so obviously that little weld is not electrically "continuous" with the frame - at least not well.

So, upshot is you can test for "flow" of electricity with the ohm meter (or rather, the ability for it to flow, as you don't need applied electricity in the lines to test for continuity) (beyond the small current the ohmmeter puts in for you.

Anyone who understands it better, feel free to correct anything I said that's wrong!

[Manitou]

Still not sure how that helps me prove of the cable from the outside is "good" all the way to the TV or not. I can't put 1 lead on the copper of each end.. They're too far away from each other.

[Concourse]

Which is why I suggested hooking a battery to on end and an LED or lightbulb to the other. It lights your good. Doesn't light is bad. You can improvise this by using something, say a flashlight and some wire. Two people might help to hold connections at the ends. In long distance coax tests where I wasn't looking for scientific results (lol) I took a TV "F" connector and hooked a battery to it then took an LED or voltmeter to the other end to check for voltage/light. If no voltage there is a cable or end connector issue. If voltage/light then the TV or source is a problem.

Did you make sure the TV menu settings was set to cable and not air?

Another option is take the coax cable from the RV park's tower and run it through the window directly to the TV's input. That takes out the Chinook's internal coax line and the splitter switch.

[Manitou]

Good thinking! Through the window is brilliant haha.
Yes to the cable vs air setting. Had to switch to air and energize the roof antenna to get anything at all.
I like the window idea since I don't trust camp grounds to all have good connections. I e tried enough though to believe it's my wiring now.

[Concourse]

And just to be clear we're talking about the same things.........you're reprogramming the TV for cable versus air? Not just pushing the switch box button.

This:

[Manitou]

Correct. I'm aware I have to tell the TV itself too.

[Concourse]

Excellent. I just wanted to make sure.

It will be interesting to find out if the interior cable is bad or not. Usually an end connector will be loose or have a broken center copper wire on the male end. Maybe dirt/corrosion in the service center female end.

I've used the cable TV in my Concourse (with upgraded Samsung 19" LED TV) at campgrounds all across the USA with no problem.